A fishing village located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara, Labuan Bajo is a hidden gem with tons to explore! Labuan Bajo is being hailed as the next best Asean holiday destination and a must-add to your travel list, thanks to the many fun tourist attractions and activities available – but what if we told you that there’s more coming soon?
While visiting Labuan Bajo with AirAsia, we also learned what the East Nusa Tenggara destination has planned for the future, especially for Parapuar Park and Golo Mori. From new tourist attractions to family resorts, Labuan Bajo promises a lot in the next few years, so here’s a hint at what’s coming soon:
Parapuar
Starting with Parapuar Park, or sometimes referred to as Parapuar Viewpoint. This hilltop park is located in Labuan Bajo’s city centre, just five minutes from the Komodo International Airport and seven minutes from the Marina Waterfront area. During our trip, we met with members from the Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority (BPOLBF), who shared with us their ongoing plans to develop the park into a new tourist destination on the island.
Parapuar has also begun transformation into the next must-visit attraction in Labuan Bajo. BPOLBF said the park will focus on nature tourism as it’s a prime location on the island for sunrise and sunset viewing. One of the ways the agency is getting people to visit Parapuar is by hosting weekend events on the hilltop, such as yoga workshops and the Picnic Over The Hill pop-ups.
Of course, the park will continue to see growth over the next few years. BPOLBF said there are already a few brands hopping on the development project. This means visitors will soon be able to dine at more cafes and restaurants, whilst enjoying the scenic view from the hilltop. In the meantime, the agency will continue to host more events to get visitors familiar with Parapuar.
Golo Mori
Another area with expansion plans within the next five years is Golo Mori Village, also known as The Golo Mori. Located 45 minutes away from the centre of Labuan Bajo, this scenic spot presents a truly stunning concept of a sustainable marine-based meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism destination. Currently, the area is home to the Golo Mori Convention Centre, which hosted the recent Golo Mori International Jazz Festival.
Unfortunately, the area still lacks many facilities and has little to no attractions. However, during our meeting with the spokesperson for InJourney Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), we learnt that the area will see more growth in the next few weeks. Amongst the plans for Golo Mori are new luxury resorts and hotels to offer more accommodation options to those travelling to Labuan Bajo.
At the same time, ITDC is inviting more international businesses to invest in Golo Mori, promising more traffic to the area within the next few years. The Nuka Beach Club is steadily attracting guests who are looking for a beach getaway without the crowd of central Labuan Bajo. Given the vast area of Golo Mori, we’re sure this destination has plenty of space to grow in the coming years.
Of course, now is still a great time to visit Labuan Bajo – and you can get there from Malaysia with Air Asia! The World’s Best Low-Cost Airline offers three flights per week to Labuan Bajo from KLIA Terminal 2. For more information on the flights, check out the AirAsia website and the AirAsia MOVE App.
